The Lorelais' First Day at Yale

Season 4, Episode 2, Aired
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Episode Summary

While Luke is willing to lend Lorelai his truck to help Rory move into her dorm, he's not too thrilled when the project turns out to take all day and all night. Rory's roommates turn out to be a jock, a fifteen year old prodigy sorely lacking in socialization skills, and to her astonishment, her old nemesis from Chilton. Nicole's partners descend on the diner and threaten to ensnare Luke in a morass of paperwork;moreless
9.3
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EPISODE RATING: Superb
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Fan Episode Reviews (15)

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  • Lorelai and Rory' first day at Yale

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By cielo215, Jun 28, 2011 Report Abuse
    Yay, The Lorelais' first at Chilton is one of my fave episodes of Gilmore Girls so it felt right to introduce us to the new Yale scene with the reminescence of one of the Gilmores' best episode. Also, Rory's first day at Yale is the suite of the very reason why Rory went to Chilton on the fisrt place. And I really like the guide girls and the jokes about the id cards and the dormrooms and how freshmens are just so naive and impressed! I still think Harvard really would have been cool, but Yale is close to home so Yay Yale!moreless

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  • Lorelai and Rory's first day at Yale!

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By holden_potter, Apr 21, 2010 Report Abuse
    After three years watching them together now we should cope up with the fact that Rory is going to college and will not be with her mother Lorelai all the time. The episode is so much fun. Lorelai and Luke fighting over the trunc. Luke talking to Nicole's partners. Lorelai and Rory saying goodbye three times. Paris is back and seems a lot like the old Paris though she is trying to change.
    The episode is also heartwarming such as all Gilmore Girls episodes. Rory is so sweet that she misses Lorelai and finds it pretty tough to cope up with living away from her. Their talk was awesome as Rory tells her that she shouldn't have been so attached to her mother now that she finds it hard to let her go. I think that Gilmore Girls is a show which is as good in its college years as it is in its high school years. We have seen a lot of shows struggling after their main characters graduate from high school. But I see something different here.
    I really enjoyed that episode.moreless

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  • This episode is so COOL!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By GGFantic, Apr 21, 2010 Report Abuse
    I absulutly LOVE this Episode! It is soooo funny! i love the matress thing, the fight that Lorelai and Luke have over it, and his truck. And it also shows how much Luke cares for Rory. And the party that Lorelai trows spur-of-the-moment. I love what she says when she's inviting every one on First Floor Derfee into Rory's appartment: "Enter, Rejoice and come in!" And the start of the episode, before and after the song. And that thing with the lawyer and Doon Dowey. And how Rory wasn't ready to let go of Lorelai? And at the very end, i love the song, that plays, and the la-la melody. It's just so sad. i think two of my favourite la-la melodys are this one and the one when Rory sees Dean and Lindsay come out of the church after getting married from a distance. They are just so sad, but really good.moreless

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  • Lorelai and Rory experience their first day at Yale. Rory is surprised when she finds Paris is going to be her roommate, and Lorelai just can't seem to get rid of that mattress. The hardest part of the day is letting each other go.moreless

    9.1
    "Superb"
    By sunshinegirl64, Jul 04, 2008 Report Abuse
    Starting with the title, you can tell that this episode is going to be a mirror of 1.02: The Lorelai's First Day at Chilton. But, as they soon find, letting Rory go to Chilton is a whole lot different then letting her go off to college.

    There were three highlights of this episode. First was the discovery of Paris. 'Give me a hug' she exclaims to a biwildered Rory. 'My nose is clay' she says back. Intense-Paris is now mellow-Paris, thanks to Terrence, her life coach. Even with a life-coach, Paris is still hilariously controlling.

    Second was the Luke/Lorelai interaction. It wasn't exactly cute in this episode, but very funny, as Lorelai is borrowing Luke's truck. Every time she comes back to Star's Hollow, there it is: The Yale Mattress.

    "I need my truck." "That sticks you with the mattress." "Then take the truck and the mattress." "I can't take the mattress." And on and on and on.

    Finally is the relization that Rory has to let Lorelai go. After begging her to stay the night, they share a bittersweet hug and are forced to go seperate ways. Not a stellar episode, but solid. 9.1/10moreless

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  • It's Rory's first day at Yale. This episode really showed how hard it is to move away from home, brilliantly done.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By stewie1423, Jul 02, 2008 Report Abuse
    I loved the whole feel of the episode. Rory going to college, seeing all the dorms and what her life will be like for the next four years. Lorelai with Luke's truck was also so funny and the end was sad when she realised how empty the house was without Rory.

    Paris was hilarious in this episode, how this guy stopped her anger. I couldn't stop laughing at near outbursts at the other room mate. The whole first night thing with Lorelai was great, very cool feel to it all. And it even got her some potential new friends. The 16 year old girl was amusing, mainly Paris's reaction to her.

    Luke's annoyance at the lawyers was good too. I like Rory's breakdown about everything, missing home and such. I really can't wait for the rest of this season, just to see her college life and what Lorelai does without her.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • When Tess goes over to meet Rory, she has one key in her hand. At this point, Tess has no idea who Rory is. When Tess meets her, she gives her that one key. Now, how did Tess know that that key would be for Rory if she had no idea who she was? Edit
    • When Rory is moving into her dorm room, she is upset when a piece of her campus map tears off. She says that the part of the map which tore off was Old Campus, but that to get a replacement map, she will have to go "all the way back to the Old Campus". Her suite was in Durfee Hall. Durfee Hall is actually located on Old Campus at Yale. In fact, all the freshman dorms (and Durfee is one of these) are located on Old Campus! This was a goof on the part of the writers -- someone didn't do their Yale research! Edit
    • Lorelai tells Luke she can't take the key out. But when she and Rory arrived at Yale a while later, she has no difficulty removing the key. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • French episode title: "Premier Jour A Yale", meaning "First Day At Yale". Edit
    • Sean Gunn (Kirk), Keiko Agena (Lane), Kelly Bishop (Emily), Edward Herrmann (Richard), Melissa McCarthy (Sookie), and Yanic Truesdale (Michel) do not appear in this episode. Edit
    • Olivia Hack, who plays Rory's 16-year-old roommate Tanna, also played the infamous Cindy Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Luke: So if I give you my lawyer's name, will you leave? Russell: I will leave. Luke: Okay, ready? Russell: Yes. Luke: His name is Don Dewey. He works at the firm of Dewey... Russell: Dewey... Luke: Cheatham... Russell: Cheatham... Luke: And Howe. Russell: Dewey, Cheatham and Howe. (Pause) That was very immature. Luke: Went well, tickled me. Russell: My bosses are going to want to hear this. Luke: Oh, come on. They've heard that one before. Oh hey, if you want Don's number, it's 555-5555. Edit
    • Mr. Stein #1: Mr. Danes, I am an impatient man, a busy man, a sensible man, a skeptical man. Luke: So you're four different men? Were they all named Stein too? Edit
    • (about the truck) Luke: Wait, why is the mattress still there? Lorelai: Oh, that's not the mattress, that's a mattress. Luke: What? Lorelai: Rory has the new mattress. That's the Yale-supplied mattress that has microbes in it that date back to Henry Box Brown. Luke: Well, what are you gonna do with it? Lorelai: Well, I was thinking maybe you could store it for me. Luke: Uh, no. Lorelai: Come on. Luke: No. Lorelai: Well, I can't take it back to Yale. Luke: I'm not storing your microbe mattress, forget it. Lorelai: Well, then I'm stuck here. Luke: Fine, because I need my truck back. Lorelai: Fine, but that leaves you with the mattress. Luke: I'm not taking the mattress. Lorelai: Then let me take the truck. Luke: But that means you take the mattress. Lorelai: I can't take the mattress. Luke: Then you can't have the truck. Lorelai: But that sticks you with the mattress. Luke: If you take the truck, it comes with the mattress. Lorelai: I can't take the mattress. Luke: Then you can't have the truck. Lorelai: And that sticks you with the mattress. Luke: We've been here before. Lorelai: I recognize that tree. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Rory: Pat Summerall? Lorelai: Well, you think of somebody better. Rory: Orson Welles. Lorelai: It can't be a dead person. Rory: Pat Summerall's dead. Lorelai: No he's not. Rory: Pat Summerall is dead. Lorelai: No, I'm telling you he's not. Ladybird Johnson is dead. Rory: No she's not!
      Pat Summerall is a sports broadcaster who is still alive. Ladybird Johnson was married Lyndon Baines Johnson and was First Lady. She was alive when this episode aired but died July 11, 2007. Edit
    • Luke: We've been here before. Lorelai: I recognize that tree. This is a reference to the Samuel Beckett play Waiting For Godot, where the two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, are waiting for Godot who never shows up. The whole time they're sitting by a tree which although it changes slightly when the leaves grow, they think looks familiar. Edit
    • Luke: They're gonna multiply like The Matrix. In the movie The Matrix, agent Smith is trying to destroy Neo and vice versa, but every time Neo kills the agent he morphs into another body and keeps multiplying so he can't be eradicated. Edit

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